My truck and the 4x4 ZF swap

[towcat]

check out this thread and see post #10.
http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?t=9851

 

[MJlogan]

Nice job. A couple questions for ya since Im getting close to doing this in my 86/T-19 pickup.

1. You mentioned you got a floor board plate from the junk yard....was it neccessary and what year was the plate out of?

2. I already have the Napa solid flywheel clutch conversion kit, but how was the ZF's roll over noise? Or was it a problem? Also, what fluid did you use?

1. I actually used a t19 plate. The holes for the shifters were in the right spot (shifter hole is a little far forward but doesnt hit), but I still had to bend the middle up a little bit so it did not rub on the ZF. Not a big deal at all, dont worry about trying to hunt down a ZF floor plate.

2. Just have cheap coastal dex/merc ATF in it right now. I'll put some better stuff in it later. Rollover noise isnt bad at all. Maybe its just drowned out by my temporary exhaust setup (straight pipe exiting after the cab). Probably notice it more once i finish the exhaust with a muffler. You can hear the rollover when you lug it but i really dont feel that it will annoy me at all.

Hardest part of the swap for you is going to be dealing with the crossmember wings. If you have all the parts you should be able to knock it out in a day.

 

[MJlogan]

check out this thread and see post #10.
http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?t=9851

Right on, I'll be giving this a shot

 

[MJlogan]

Well tried towcat's technique and ended up with the same results. Slave or master has got to be bad. Guess that what I get for cheaping out and buying that stuff at Autozone.

 

[The Warden]

1. I actually used a t19 plate. The holes for the shifters were in the right spot (shifter hole is a little far forward but doesnt hit), but I still had to bend the middle up a little bit so it did not rub on the ZF. Not a big deal at all, dont worry about trying to hunt down a ZF floor plate.

Do you have any pics of your plate after modifying it? I think you're the first person on here to actually use a T-19 plate on a ZF, and I have to admit that I wasn't sure it was even possible...I'm interested to see how much modification was necessary, and how flat the tranny area is after doing that. I did the same thing as bike-pilot and cut a hole in a ZF pan for my 13-45 shift lever...

Sounds good overall! Forgive me if you posted this and I missed it, but did you have the ZF rebuilt before installing it? FWIW my ZF went in in 2005 freshly rebuilt and with a solid-mass flywheel, and even after over 5 1/2 years and about 40K miles, I don't really hear any roll-over noise unless I'm lugging the engine.

FWIW...

 

[MJlogan]

Do you have any pics of your plate after modifying it? I think you're the first person on here to actually use a T-19 plate on a ZF, and I have to admit that I wasn't sure it was even possible...I'm interested to see how much modification was necessary, and how flat the tranny area is after doing that. I did the same thing as bike-pilot and cut a hole in a ZF pan for my 13-45 shift lever...

Sounds good overall! Forgive me if you posted this and I missed it, but did you have the ZF rebuilt before installing it? FWIW my ZF went in in 2005 freshly rebuilt and with a solid-mass flywheel, and even after over 5 1/2 years and about 40K miles, I don't really hear any roll-over noise unless I'm lugging the engine.

FWIW...

No pictures of the plate unfortunately. I literally put the plate upside down in the lawn and hit the middle with a framing hammer until it cleared. It really only needed about an extra inch of "hump" to clear. Took about 5 minutes.

ZF was not rebuilt. Total unknown condition other than the fact that it came out of a "well seasoned" F450 flatbed. 2nd gear syncro feels wasted but nothing i cant live with. Other than that it seems like it would shift very smoothly if i could get the slave/master to bleed.

 

[towcat]

No pictures of the plate unfortunately. I literally put the plate upside down in the lawn and hit the middle with a framing hammer until it cleared. It really only needed about an extra inch of "hump" to clear. Took about 5 minutes.

ZF was not rebuilt. Total unknown condition other than the fact that it came out of a "well seasoned" F450 flatbed. 2nd gear syncro feels wasted but nothing i cant live with. Other than that it seems like it would shift very smoothly if i could get the slave/master to bleed.

just for S&G, can you take a look at the build plate on the side of the trans and tell me what your first gear is?
thanks

 

[MJlogan]

just for S&G, can you take a look at the build plate on the side of the trans and tell me what your first gear is?
thanks

4. something. Its the early close ratio version, the SF-42. can get you exact numbers if you need them

 

[MJlogan]

Warden, hey found a couple pics on my cell phone and one is of the tunnel with shifters installed.

Also one of my truck with the 60 under the front. Yeah it sits nose high, havent put the blocks in the rear yet. And a shot of the front spring hanger i built for my reverse shackle setup when i installed the 60. Sorry they are crappy camera phone pics.

 

[Diesel_brad]

NICE WELDS Mj

 

[The Warden]

Warden, hey found a couple pics on my cell phone and one is of the tunnel with shifters installed.

Thanks for the pics! Looks good!!

 

[justcuz]

Nice work. What size block will you need to even up the rear? What size tire are you going to run later, anything bigger than what you have? You will not be cutting the fenders or wheeling this hard I suspect. It is way to nice for that.
I saw in another thread someone had the same trouble you did and found his clutch rod he made was not long enough and did not get full travel out of the clutch master cylinder, any possibility you have the same problem?
Do you plan to post up some complete pictures of your chassis work? I like the way you kept the front spring hanger close to the bottom of the frame instead of spacing it so far down like other aftermarket brackets are. How did you set your caster and what rear shackles did you use?

 

[Diesel_brad]

Nice work. What size block will you need to even up the rear?

F350(4" blocks) should level the truck out. For a very mild rake use a 5" block in place of the original

 

[AZBLACKSMOKE]

So you ended up using a c6 crossmember and didnt mess with the inner support thingys, correct?

Thats awesome. Your making me excited to get going on mine. I have all the parts...just need the time.

 

[MJlogan]

Nice work. What size block will you need to even up the rear? What size tire are you going to run later, anything bigger than what you have? You will not be cutting the fenders or wheeling this hard I suspect. It is way to nice for that.
I saw in another thread someone had the same trouble you did and found his clutch rod he made was not long enough and did not get full travel out of the clutch master cylinder, any possibility you have the same problem?
Do you plan to post up some complete pictures of your chassis work? I like the way you kept the front spring hanger close to the bottom of the frame instead of spacing it so far down like other aftermarket brackets are. How did you set your caster and what rear shackles did you use?

I've got a block out of a 4x4 F250 for the rear. I think a F350 block would give it a little too much lift in the back- i like a level stance. Plus i'm running gasser springs up front so it sits a little lower anyway. I tried to build it as low as possible. I really wanted (and still do) to run the shackles through the frame like the '70s trucks. Definitely in the plans for the future. I built my own rear shackles- just 1/4" plate.

Clutch has plenty of throw, just cant get the air to bleed. Replaced the new master with another new master from napa and it feels better, but loses pedal eventually. Gota put some more miles on it though.

Crossmember I used was from a 4x4 F150 with an AOD trans. C6 2wd crossmember will NOT work.